Sometimes Strangers Understand Better Than Friends
by MidnightRose24
Summary: "When Jade had gone to Starbucks after Hollywood Art's prome, she did not expect to meet a very interesting, emotionally confused teenage boy from Canada." Eli and Jade meet. One-shot.


**A/N: Jade is a little OOC. You have been warned. Think of this as the time before Degrassi's latest season happened, because that's when I started writing this and never finished it. Enjoy. Maybe.**

When Jade had gone to Starbucks after Hollywood Art's prome—after fighting off that idiot man in the diaper, of course—she did not expect to meet a very interesting, emotionally confused teenage boy from Canada.

She was minding her own business (though this kid in front of her was not) and impatiently waiting in line to get her coffee when someone bumped her from behind rather rudely. "Watch it," she snapped right as the person apologized.

She turned to see a boy, leaning to one side on a cane with a metallic skull on top of it, with a brace on his leg. He was around her height and age with messy, dark brown hair down to his shoulders, and green eyes that seemed to have a certain empty, doomed look in them. It was like staring down into a never-ending tunnel and feeling a rush of wonder and fear as to what would happen if you slipped down there—would you really hit rock bottom at some point, or would you learn to fly and stay there forever?

The boy looked down and mumbled an apology once more before limping past to grab a straw from the silver container that was placed on the counter. Jade watched as he slugged back over to a table by the window and plopped down in his seat, letting his cane prop up on to the wall. He sighed and tore the wrapper off to reveal the signature green straws that Starbucks offered. Lazily, he stuck the straw in his drink—which looked like an iced coffee from what Jade could tell—and held it loosely in one of his hands, not even drinking it. He just stared out the window with a blank look on his face.

As Jade watched, the line moved up and someone behind her complained about her not moving with the line. She waved off their comment. "Oh, shut up," she said dismissively and stepped forward to order her much-needed drink.

She turned her back to the rest of the customers and lost herself in her thoughts as workers prepared her beverage. Soon, the whir of the ingredients being blended together, and the chatter of the people around her, faded away. The thoughts about Beck coming home soon, and how to get back at Tori, took her away from her body to some other unknown place where she wasn't sure how her mind ended up there, or how to get back. Luckily—or unluckily—the barista called out her name to let her know that her coffee was done.

Jade was back in reality once again and hating it more than ever. She had felt contempt when she was lost in her thoughts. Now she was back in the harsh world where her dreams of becoming an actress were slim, Tori's getting her way, and her boyfriend was hundreds of miles away. Pushing these thoughts aside before she got too riled up, she made her steamy drink a little sweeter with two servings of sugar.

While she poured the packets of sugar into the cup she turned her attention back to the boy and snuck glances at him. She saw that he skin was quite clear and smooth. His nose was a bit odd—though Jade couldn't figure out exactly what it was that made it odd—and when he yawned she could see that his teeth were a little crooked, maybe even a little too small. Despite these imperfections and the fact that he didn't resemble Beck in the least, she thought that he was an okay-looking guy in his combat boots and jeans. Plus, that black v-neck was attractive.

The sugar packet became empty so Jade tossed it in the trash near-by and snatched up a stirring stick from the container next to the straws. She sauntered over to a table in the middle of the room. It was only about ten feet away from the gothic teen (who had now started to sip his drink, by the way).

She paid no attention to him as she sent Beck a quick text asking him what he was doing, but when she looked back up she was a bit startled to see the guy was now staring at her with a hint of curiosity on his pale face. She probably did look a little out of place with her deep blue dress on, long hair done in an up-do and nude pumps on in the middle of a coffee shop. That's not usually how people dress to go to a coffee house on the corner of the street.

She stared him down, daring him to approach her or smile at her. It seemed that he chose to back down when he broke the gaze and looked down towards his crotch. Jade almost wrinkled her nose in disgust but then saw him lift his phone a little closer to his face and start to type something. After he was done he dropped his phone on the table, causing it to make a loud _thunk_. He looked a bit irritated now. This caught Jade's interest.

Casually as she could, she took the stick that she used to sloppily mix in the sugar with, and walked to a trash can that happened to be by the guy's table. She saw the phone lying on the table top and took note of the background image. It was the boy and some other girl smiling widely at the camera. The girl had wavy, almost curly, auburn hair that was cut pretty short and complimented her baby blue eyes. She had pale skin- with noticeable foundation on that Jade took note of- and an innocent look to her. She was cute in the way that Jade thought Cat was cute- harmless and inviting.

"Nice photo," Jade said to him.

He looked up with a gaze that almost questioned whether she was talking to him or someone else. Deciding that it must not be the latter, he replied, "Oh, thanks."

His voice was a bit higher than Jade had expected, but his tone was just as flat as she thought it would be. Jade had to wonder what was wrong with this kid- even if she would probably never see him again. She questioned herself about how to ask him, but then thought that it didn't matter if they wouldn't ever speak after this. "What's wrong?" she asked bluntly.

He looked away and drew in a deep breath. "I got dumped," he answered honestly.

Jade had to stop herself from grinning. It was amusing to her to see how others reacted to pain- emotional and physical. "What'd you do?"

"'Suffocated' her," he answered and used quotation marks with his hands in the air when he said the word 'suffocated' (which revealed that his fingernails were painted black. Was that Sharpie?). It sounded like more of a question though, like he couldn't decide whether his ex had been lying or if he really had been suffocating to her.

On impulse, Jade set her coffee down and sat down in the chair across from him. "I'm Jade," she introduced herself.

He introduced himself as Eli.

"Tell me what happened."

"Why should I tell a complete stranger about this?" He didn't sound angry or irritated; just curious.

"Because I'm just that: a complete stranger. What guarantees that we'll ever talk after this? People tell other people about their lives and never see them again all the time."

She did have a point, Eli had to admit. When adults travel, or even just go to a bar or some other place alone, they tell another person about their lives. It's small talk. Maybe their small talk wasn't this personal, but it was the same concept.

Jade pushed her bangs out of the way and glanced down at his phone. "Why don't you start by telling me about the text you just got- even if it's not related. Just tell me something."

It came out as a command more than a suggestion. Still, Eli did as she asked.

"Well, my girlfriend- Clare- and I had been dating for a few months and then she found out..." Eli hesitated, contemplating how much he should tell her. Some things weren't exactly "small talk". He settled on mentioning Julia. The talk about the car crash and the hoarding can wait- or never happen. "That my past girlfriend died."

Jade's eyes became slits. "How does that suffocate someone else?"

"Because…because it can cause you to worry about that happening to others that you care about and then you go a little physco."

There was no need to guess. "So then she dumped you sometime after that."

"Yeah." He looked back out the window, like he was searching for the answer somewhere outside. "What if she gets someone else…" he mumbled in a voice that was almost incoherent.

Jade knew very well how it felt to be jealous- shocking, yes- and to be afraid of losing the one that you love the most. It hurts; more than words can ever say. She hated to admit that she sympathized for Eli, but it was true. She did. He looked so lost and depressed.

"Look," she said sternly, "it sucks, I know, but if you want her back then you have to show her that you can give her some space."

"What if she ends up with someone else?" Eli was practically yelling, frustrated that no one seemed to think or worry about this as he had. A few people turned to stare at the two for a second, but apparently didn't think that they were interesting enough and turned their backs to them once again. "Will that help me get her back?" he asked her sarcastically.

Jade shrugged. "Actually, it might."

Eli threw his hands up in the air and let them fall back on the table, making it shake slightly. "That's it. You're crazy."

"So I've been told," she shot back before continuing on to say, "Maybe she will get together with someone and not like them as much as she likes you. Or maybe if you leave her alone for a while she'll think of getting back together with you." Jade blew some steam off her coffee and took a sip. "No promises though," she warned.

Eli shook his head. "I need to talk to her. I need to make this right."

Jade sighed. "That's where you're wrong and you need to listen to me, because I'm right. You can make it right by showing her that you can allow her to live her own life," she explained slowly. "You must have some other friend that you can hang out with." Jade internally rolled her eyes. What was she doing playing therapist with some stranger?

"Why can't I get back together with her and let her live her own life then?" he questioned.

Scratch that. She wasn't playing therapist with a stranger; she was playing it with an idiot. Although, that kind of sums up most strangers.

"She probably wants time away from dating. There is something that you need to understand about relationships: it involves two people, but it doesn't make those two people into one person. One person will do what they feel like and the other will do what _they_ feel like. What makes it a relationship is when those two individuals come back together and _stick together_, despite leading two different lives." Jade felt like she was lecturing a class. God, she needed to get home soon and cut something to pieces with a pair of scissors.

Eli stared for a long moment then slowly nodded. "Right. Two people can't become one."

"It looks like you need to heal," she gestured towards his cane, "so focus on that, okay?" She started to stand up—her work here was done. Another idiot could possibly walk away as not so much of an idiot now that they had talked to her. She had had enough of an eventful night to last her for the next couple of weeks. Now it was time for her to go home and relax and call Beck, or maybe text Cat. "Oh," she stopped, "don't do anything insane." She walked to the door of the coffee shop and pushed it open.

Before she stepped out Eli called out to her, "Thanks." She faced him one last time and nodded. "Appreciate it. Not many of the people I know seem to understand."

"Yeah, well, not many people are as smart as me." Jade exited through the door before he had the chance to say anything else.

She had said what she needed to say. Now it was up to Eli whether he would follow through on her advice, or do the exact opposite of what she had said, and do something completely insane. Which choice he would make was a mystery to Jade. When he finally did choose she would probably never find out. They were just strangers who had met, talked, and moved back on with their lives, as if their meeting wouldn't change them in one way or another.


End file.
